Walking on the thick snow, Shen Wei and Zhang Miaoyu walked into Yuxiu Palace. The yard was covered with snow, and a few dead trees were leaning crookedly in the snow.
Ever since the fire in Yuxiu Palace, the flowers, plants and trees transplanted into the courtyard have never grown back. In winter, the courtyard is completely bare, with no scenery at all, and it is desolate inside and out.
Zhang Miaoyu stood at the gate of the courtyard and asked the palace servants, "Where is Concubine Mei? The imperial concubine has arrived, but she has forgotten even the basic etiquette."
The palace servant whispered back, "I have already informed the master, but the master is painting in the study."
Zhang Miaoyu was speechless.
There are distinctions of rank in the harem, the queen is in name only, and Shen Wei is the nominal head of the harem, so other concubines have to bow and greet them when they see her. But Liu Ruyan was unique. She didn't even greet Chen Wei when she saw her, and she didn't even leave the house.
There are no rules at all.
But there was no way to completely control Liu Ruyan.
Liu Ruyan didn't care about the gold and silver jewelry even though her salary was fined;
Demoted to a concubine, Liu Ruyan did not care about fame, wealth or status;
Liu Ruyan criticized the Liu family for not educating their daughter well. She has little affection for the family and does not care about the reputation of the Liu family.
Even if she was sentenced to death, Liu Ruyan dared to drink the poisoned wine and face death calmly.
She doesn't seem to have any weaknesses.
Zhang Miaoyu wanted to pinch her philtrum: "It's really hard to deal with."
At this time, Li Nanzhi walked out from the side hall with a sad face. She obviously did not sleep well the night before and was in a depressed mood. Li Nanzhi came over sickly: "Hello, Madam Chen, Hello, Madam Yu."
Chen Wei said, "Take me to see Xuemei."
Li Nanzhi nodded sullenly.
Li Nanzhi had deep feelings for Xuemei and specially took Xuemei to her bedroom to recuperate. The room was warm with a charcoal stove, ventilated by small windows, and the strong smell of medicine permeated every corner.
On the bed, Xuemei was still unconscious, her face as pale as paper, showing little sign of life.
Xuemei is the senior palace maid beside Liu Ruyan. She is efficient, hardworking, and loyal to her master. When a fire broke out in Yuxiu Palace before, it was Xuemei who risked her life by rushing into the sea of fire and rescued the innocent Li Nanzhi.
Later, Liu Ruyan was involved in a witchcraft scandal, and Xuemei did not betray her.
She is a rare girl, but unfortunately she followed the wrong master.
"What did Doctor Mo say?" Zhang Miaoyu glanced at the miserable Xuemei and frowned with sympathy.
Li Nanzhi wiped her tears and choked up, "Mo, Doctor Mo said that Aunt Xuemei's legs were severely frostbitten and she can't walk anymore. She can only use crutches from now on."
Doctor Mo is a skilled doctor who rescued Xuemei from the underworld.
But Xuemei's legs were severely frostbitten, damaging her bone marrow and meridians, and her legs were completely disabled.
Zhang Miaoyu sighed: "What a sin."
After thinking for a while, Zhang Miaoyu said to Shen Wei, "Sister Shen Wei, there is not even a warm room in this house, which is not conducive to recuperation. Why not let Xuemei and Nanzhi live in my palace? Anyway, no one lives in my side hall."
Shen Wei nodded happily: "It will be good if Sister Miaoyu takes care of me."
Zhang Miaoyu did what she said and called the palace servants to start moving things. After all the busyness, most of the Yuxiu Palace was empty.
Until Shen Wei left, Liu Ruyan still did not show up, as if she was silent in the study.
Zhang Miaoyu was indignant and pulled Shen Wei to say, "Sister Shen Wei, you have such a good temper. Concubine Mei deliberately didn't see you to save your face."
Shen Wei smiled but said nothing.
...
In the study, Liu Ruyan, dressed in a cool white dress, was still painting. On a huge piece of rice paper, plum blossoms were in full bloom. The rice paper Liu Ruyan used for painting was the top-grade Hanzhou plum blossom rice paper, which was flawless and extremely valuable.
Liu Ruyan was concentrating on painting, she knew Shen Wei was here, but out of some secret jealousy, she didn't want to see Shen Wei's lively face.
At this time, there was a rustling sound in the yard.
Liu Ruyan put down the brush and looked towards the courtyard with cold eyes. I saw the cold wind blowing in the yard, and the dead branches were tilted and broken. Several palace servants were clearing the snow and breaking and sweeping away the dead branches.
She frowned slightly in dissatisfaction and walked to the front of the courtyard: "How dare you! Do you allow me to move the courtyard?"
The white snow and the dry black branches had a unique style. Liu Ruyan liked it very much and asked the palace servants to keep it.
After spring comes, we will ask the greenhouse to send people to plant a new batch of plum trees.
But now, these palace servants did not listen to her and actually moved the snow and branches.
The leading palace servant wiped the sweat from his forehead and said calmly, "Reporting to Concubine Mei, Concubine Chen has instructed the servants to make sure to clean up the dead branches and weeds in the yard. Concubine Chen also said that for the next three years, the greenhouse is prohibited from sending plum trees to Yuxiu Palace."
"The war in Liangzhou has started again, and the palace needs to save some money. The amount of Hanzhou plum blossom rice paper, plum charcoal, inkstone, etc. that you use every year exceeds the amount. From now on, only ten sheets of ordinary rice paper and two boxes of nuclear wood charcoal will be sent every month, and the pens, inkstones, and brushes will all be replaced with the same styles as other concubines."
"In addition, the cloth, silk, food, etc. sent to Yuxiu Palace are all in accordance with normal standards."
Liu Ruyan was stunned when she heard this.
Liu Ruyan loves painting and writing poetry, and uses a lot of rice paper and ink every month. She was very picky and only wanted to use Hanzhou's unique plum blossom rice paper and burn top-grade plum charcoal.
Shen Wei's move undoubtedly killed Liu Ruyan's only hobby.
"She, she deliberately targeted me. She's going too far!" Liu Ruyan leaned against the door frame, her tone unusually angry.
The eunuch bowed his head and said indifferently, "The Imperial Concubine Chen asked me to tell you something: next time you see the Imperial Concubine, you must bow and greet her."
The eunuch said no more and continued to clean up the snow and dead branches in Yuxiu Palace. Everyone has a scale in his heart. Servants are also human beings. Liu Ruyan's indifference was seen by the servants.
Xuemei followed Liu Ruyan for many years and was loyal to her, but ended up with both of her legs crippled. The other palace servants were all sighing and secretly dissatisfied with Liu Ruyan.
After a while, the palace maid sent by Chen Wei walked into Yuxiu Palace and took away all the precious rice paper and plum charcoal in Liu Ruyan's study.
Liu Ruyan had never seen such a scene before, and waves of annoyance appeared in her usually calm heart. She wanted to scold loudly and stop these slaves.
But she couldn't say it.
She claimed to be a person who was indifferent to fame and fortune. If she acted like a shrew and stopped the palace maids, wouldn't it ruin her temperament and demeanor?
Liu Ruyan was feeling depressed and had to go back to the study to sulk. Her favorite rice paper and inkstone were taken away, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent her ordinary writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone.
Liu Ruyan stroked the rough rice paper with her fingers, her brows slightly furrowed. Painting plum blossoms on such inferior rice paper is simply a desecration of the plum blossom.
She had to give up painting temporarily.
At noon, the imperial kitchen delivered four dishes and a soup. The combination of meat and vegetables tastes quite delicious. Liu Ruyan raised her eyebrows slightly and asked the eunuch who was serving the dishes, "Why is there no plum soup?"
The eunuch replied, "My lady, if you need to cook a separate meal, you need to report to the imperial kitchen in advance and pay the full amount of money."
There are regulations on the concubines’ daily dishes.
If you want to add a dish, you need to report to the imperial kitchen in advance and pay money. In the past, Xuemei was in charge of adding meals to Yuxiu Palace. Xuemei knew Liu Ruyan's taste in food, and she arranged it secretly so that Liu Ruyan only had to enjoy the food.
Now that Xuemei is ill, there is no one in the palace to take care of the details of Liu Ruyan's life.
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